Okay so I have a in house wifi network that had dark spots (poor data through put ). So I started reading up on new wifi technology I found EERO online and it looked pretty cool tech. So I bought a starter kit from Amazon ( 3 EERO's in a box) plus a single EERO just in case! The packaging is very very nicely done. you have to download the app for iOS or Android to setup your network. So out of the box they come, plugged in the one that said start here, disconnected my secureWiFI router from my FIOS connection (ethernet right from the side of the house), plug in the ethernet cable to the EERO from the access box on the side of the house, an ethernet cable back to my gig ethernet switch. It took about 10 minutes to setup the account and the first EERO, then went to installing the second one about 45 to 50 feet away (a few walls in the way of course). Plugged in the power to the EERO and another ethernet cable into another gig ethernet switch, waited for the blue light on the unit to blink and hit the proceed button in the EERO app on my iPhone 6s Plus and about 5 minutes or less the second unit was configured and working (very slick) went upstairs and plugged in the third EERO and waited for the blinking light and that one was configured as well, EERO says 3 units would cover your average home (nope I needed a fourth unit), so opened up the last box and plugged that unit in our bedroom waited for the blue light to blink and pushed proceed on the iOS app. I reattached all of the wifi and hardwired devices to the new network everything attached quickly except my daughter's iPad mini (not sure why it took like 8 minutes to connect). So the firmware was the earliest release on the software provided, it seems on Friday;s EERO push out updates automatically and updates their devices (that is really nice so you don't have to download software and update the devices manually). We have been using it for about 3 weeks now and it passes data very quickly ( I have an 100MB FIOS pipe) almost at wireline speed. I am planning to hardwire the last 2 EERO's to my network this weekend, since that was a recommend configuration on the web site. Over all I am a happy camper, now the cost is not cheep the units are about $100.00 each but overall they are worth the cost

Here are my recommendations base upon testing and usage: Updated!

Roots Magic 7 these are windows applications but can be run on MAC's via MacBridge (a customized version of Crossover) for $9.95. You will still need to purchase a full version of Roots Magic (for the license file key to use in MacBridge). Is MacBridge as good as the windows version? Sort of you can open your family information just like in Windows. the MacBridge application is stable. Someday soon Roots Magic promises a true OS X app. They have an iOS appbut it is read only of your Family file so it is useless if you are away from your MAC, you can't add information with the iOS to your family file.

Pros and Cons: Very good windows application very stable, but no real MAC app, using windows emulation has its drawbacks on a MAC machines. They have great documentations and support migrating of PAF, FTM and other file formats Needs a iOS app that allows for reading and writing of genealogy data!

iFamily is a great genealogy app for the MAC, it is easy to use and support importing of data via gedcom files up to version 5.5. iFamily for Leopard is a genealogy application for people who think differently. Whereas other genealogy software tends to emphasize the family unit, this software's focus is on each individual person. This distinction is subtle and is a feature of iFamily for Leopard. In iFamily for Leopard you can see at a glance whether an individual has more than 2 parents, more than 1 spouse or the number of siblings they had. Parent-child relationships may be natural (the default), step, adopted or foster relationships. Available for purchase since October 2006, iFamily has had more than 60 versions released, leading to a richly featured product that is stable and user friendly, utilized by a healthy community of users.

Pros: great support forum, customer focused. Cons: no iOS application.

Reunion is another really great app for the MAC, it is simple to use and has a Mac World Editor's Choice Award: Reunion is a genealogy software program — a "family tree program" — for the Macintosh. Reunion is also available as a companion product on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and theiPad. Reunion Touch is an application for Reunion 11 users that replaces the previous "Reunion for iOS". The current version of Reunion 11 for Macintosh received the highest rating for genealogy software in MacWorld, MacAddict, and Mac Home Journal magazines. Reunion also received a MacWorld Editor's Choice award. The latest release 11 (2015) the upgrade price 49.95 (unless you are in PA then it is more)..

I bought this app because it was suppose to the be the best genaelogy app for the MAC (2009), upgraded to most current release it has won me back as a customer.

Pros: Great user interface (UI) good documentation Cons: iPad app cost 15.00 and you proably shell out 100.00 (49.99 for the upgrade per release) for the mac app that you must have in order to use the iOS app.

Mac Family Tree is a very visual applcation for the MAC. I have been using this app since release 3 (now at release 7), the developers have made great strides in the user interface! The reports and charts are first class! Your family tree:

Easily enter and then visualize your family history. Be it creating reports, diagrams or browsing your data in the innovative 3D view called Virtual Tree - MacFamilyTree offers a solution for every task. Get an overview of where you hail from and maybe enthuse your relatives about exploring your family's past at your upcoming family reunion.

Pros: Great UI, activily being improved, very visual, resonable price for product and updates, iOS app 15.00, iOS app can import and export gedcom files. New 7.x version is out and is a huge improvement over the original 6.x software stream

Cons: Version 7.x for IOS does require that you repurchase the application. Issues with the current release importing and exporting gedcom files even from older releases, iOS app freezes up when using large family files (31 to 43 Mb)**note this has been fixed with the last application update for iOS **, must have desk top version of software to sync data on the same WiFi network. Syncing of data takes forever on large files or just plain crashes both sides. Tech support is germany, slow responses at times. Web site is confusing since they have multiple products.

You might have seen a company on Facebook or on the web called Connected Data offering a product call a Transporter or Transporter Sync. The products allow you to setup your own private cloud service, Great idea right goodbye dropbox, iCloud, one drive, copy, etc. so I purchased a sync ( it allows you provide your own usb hard drive for storage). It takes an hour or two setup and get working, To access your drive you will need a helper app ( they have the app for MAC OS and Windows) they also have apps for iOS and Android mobile devices. As well as a free account on contacted data site so you can claim your transporter device, The transporter works as advertised wight he following warnings IT DOES NOT SUPPORT SSD DRIVES, or DRIVE OVER 4 TB, you MUST PLUG IT INTO a !Gig ETHERNET port. the USB port is on 2.0 yet the recommend that you use a USB 3.0 drive. Copying of files is REALLY SLOW on both wired and wireless ethernet connections. It reformats your usb drive and wipes out all of your data. If you need to upgrade your external hard disk you must copy all of the data off of your existing transporter drive to another disk. Replace the existing drive with a new drive wait for it to reformat the new drive.. Then you can copy your old files to the new drive, and as I have stated that is a SLOW PROCESS!. Another oddity is that it does not like long file names (I found this on PDF files I use for work) I opened a ticket with support on this one to find out sorry it does not do that. File sharing is kind of different too, you have to create an email request to add people to the file or folder, in turn they have to sign up for a free account to gain access to what you are sharing. You can add other Transporter into your private cloud, they will replicate data to and from each other.

It is a cool device but it will chew up your bandwidth since it passes data over your internet connection.

I have to give the Transporter 2 out of 5 stars for now.

They just released an update to the helper apps. I will test them and see what is fixed. UPDATE: The new helper apps seem to be a bit faster in loading, updating the Transporter and Transporter Sync folders. So that is good. Now 2.5 out of 5 stars for now.

If the answer to the question of above is yes, then continue reading. As most of you know I am a long time AT&T customer (since my first iPhone) and I travel a fair amount for business (USA and Canada). What I am tried of is having to pay roaming charges when I am out of the USA, so what to do? Well I found UnlockStreak.com online for a small fee they will unlock any iPhone on the AT&T network (and only the AT&T network). This does not get you out of your contract but it does allow you to when needed use a non-AT&T micro-sim from a different carrier to avoid heafty roaming charges on the AT&T network.

I am a very happy AT&T wireless customer! I don't mind paying my nearly $190.00 per month bill, which I share between 2 iPhones and 1 iPad. The UnlockStreak process is simple:

Originally developed for use with theDell Streak, UnlockStreak Activations for
iTunes is a separate version of the software that works on Apple’s devices. To
use it, users simply visit the website and select their device, then place an
order for the unlock ($49 for an iPhone 5, all other iPhones $29; UnlockStreak
provided an unlock at no charge for purposes of this review). Once UnlockStreak
confirms that the IMEI can be unlocked, they begin the process and then send an
email with the unlocking instructions once they’ve processed your IMEI (the
hardest part of all was waiting for that email; it took one day to process my
unlock). The actual unlock is done on the user’s own
computer. For iPhones, it’s all done through iTunes, making it a familiar
process for most users. It takes only a few minutes from start to finish:
backing up and restoring your iPhone is more or less all it takes.
In all, it took me about three or four clicks to make it happen:

One important note: although UnlockStreak performs a permanent
unlock, the service only works
if the device is tied to AT&T.

For the vast majority of people using AT&T, an unlock will
probably never matter. But if you’re someone who does need an unlock—and for
whatever reason doesn’t want to make the jump to Verizon—then UnlockStreak is a
bargain, and one that doesn’t require you to navigate the shadier portions of
ebay, where many iPhone unlock offers come across as something less than legitimate. If
you’re planning a trip abroad, or just need to use your iPhone on a different
carrier here at home, UnlockStreak is worth a look.

Ok here are a couple of apps I have been playing with for a couple of days:

they are both types of pedometers, the first one is MapMyWalk (free but ad driven) the app is a pay for service to get any what it claims is advanced feature (like using the app to access your music to listen to while walking via the app, call Go MVP! pricing is 5.99 per month). Overall the app is pretty slick it uses GPS abilities of your iOS device, the down side is battery usages suffers. it does have an ad free version that starts at $5.99 per month, $17.99 for 3 months or $ 12 months for 29.99. They also offer things like Runner, Go MVP bluetooth heart rate monitor plus a 1 year free subscription or a Cyclists, go MVP GPS bike computer with a 1 year free subscription.

The second one is Moves. Moves uses a different approach it counts the number of steps your are taking every time you move. It use the motion detection in iOS devices not GPS. The app is much more battery friendly (less draw on the battery), this is a iPhone app. Since I always have my iPhone on my person it work great for me. it does log your amount of walking so you can keep track of what you are doing daily. Moves currently is a free app in the iTunes app store.